The Calamity, The Crossroads, and The Pantheon of Lovers
by Pinkbowbunny
Summary: The three little goddesses mess up big time on a spell and cause the lovers of the person at the crossroads to meet them... But they end up getting about a dozen more than they expected, and all from different dimensions! Now they all must share the details of the love from the farmer at the crossroads, to complete the spell and go back home... Mostly F/M with a little F/F and M/M.
1. Chapter 1

"Pan paka paaaaaaaan~!"

Witchie bristled with annoyance from the spot where she waited, outside of her dwelling in Lulukoko. "Dessie, do you have to do that every time you show up somewhere?"

A couple of tear-drops appeared in the green haired goddess' eyes. "W-Well, yes! It makes me look cool to do that when I appear!"

Witchie's face went flat at first. She barely managed to muster the energy to lift a brow an uncomfortable silence later. "…You… Really think so…?" She asked doubtfully.

Before the nature goddess could start to cry about it, Inari suddenly appeared behind her, patting her comfortingly on the back and sparing them the wails. "Now, now. Dessie's proclamation is very charming and unique. Don't be rude, Witchie."

Witchie pouted and puffed back, on the verge of being temperamental. "Hey, don't call me rude when you both show up late and one of you is crowing like a rooster!"

"A rooster-?!" Dessie pouted deeply, unable to keep from wailing now.

Inari, now pushed past her limits, growled back. "Was that REALLY necessary? Ugh, nevermind." She quickly added when Witchie began to smirk, clearly about to answer affirmatively. Inari instead urged on, "And we were NOT late! We were right on time!"

But Witchie still smirked, despite Inari's protest. "Aha! But don't they say in Tsuyukusa, that if you are 'right on time' that means you're late?"

Inari went bright red. They did say that in Tsuyukusa... But to use it against her was too much! "H-Hey! Didn't you say this special spell had to be cast at a certain time? If you keep blaming us you really will make us too late!"

She had scored a point there herself, and that finally wiped the smirk from Witchie's face. "Oh fine! Let's get on with it then! Alright now, mighty and sacred alter!" She suddenly cried, turning around and splaying her hands out into the air. "Hear our prayer! Our human friend from the crossroads hasn't visited as much since they got married! They used to talk to us all the time about their farm and their plants and animals and fishing and all kinds of interesting stuff!"

Inari implored the alter, as well. "It's true. We miss our friend. But we don't want to impose either. We want to be part of their world. So we ask special permission to let their lover be able to see us and converse with us, so that we may get to know them better too!"

Dessie finally dried her tears and added her power and wishes to the alter. "Then hopefully, if their lover can see us, our friend who lives at the crossroads won't have to worry about their lover seeing us and we can all hang out! Then maybe our friend will visit us more because they won't have to worry about their family thinking it's odd!"

In unison, the three little goddesses in training cast their wishes together to form the spell, and spoke the last part of it together. "Bring us the lover of our friend at the crossroads, so that they may meet us all and tell us all the details of their love and life with our dear friend!"

Their power shimmered and glimmered and pooled together towards the alter… But then suddenly, the world began to shake! Existence itself seemed to shut on and off again several times in sequence, the whole world being cast from light to complete darkness. Each time another resident from one of the Trio of Towns would appear in the sacred grove around them, one after the other. By the time it went back to normal, all in all Wayne, Ford, Ludus, Yuzuki, Hinata, Lisette, Komari, Kasumi, Iluka and Siluka were laying haphazardly around each other, in a daze, some of them groaning.

The three goddesses, now very scared and at alert, sensed that there were a few others around them too. Each of their elder sister goddesses were around them, invisible but unmistakably in their presence. To the little spirits, they boomed angrily via telepathy, so that the recovering mortals were spared, "Do you have ANY idea what you have just DONE?!"

Dessie immediately burst into tears, and Inari and even Witchie wasn't far behind her. They already sensed it but the elder deities were soon to explain it, in unison, "You're lucky we managed to get here in time, or you might have undone existence itself!"

"W-Waaaah-!"

The elder gods sighed and relented just a bit, "Silly little sisters, your wishes were ill-spoken…"

Witchie was the first and only one to dare try to talk back, "Hey! We were very specific in what we wanted!"

Exasperated, the greater goddesses roared back, cowing her, "You FOULED up the spell Witchie, admit it! First you riled up all the spell-casters and put them in an agitated mood right before the spell, then you worded the spell poorly, and finally, you failed to realize what you were dealing with when you called upon the power of the crossroads! There's –always- extra power when you're dealing with crossroads!"

The three little goddesses shrank down again, bowing their heads in shame and apology. "We're sorry! SO sorry! Please help us big sisters!"

The elder gods again sighed in suffering, begrudgingly beginning the reparation process. "In order to do that, in order to fix this mess you created, you have to finish this spell you mucked up, and most importantly, realize WHY you mucked it up! You silly things called upon your friend at the crossroads. But you didn't realize that there are many other versions of our world, existing in other dimensions! You nearly caused every possible lover of every possible person at the crossroad to appear here! You're lucky we stabilized the spell. Instead of just about a dozen people showing up, you could have been crushed by countless human bodies before tearing the cosmos asunder…"

Dessie, Inari, and even Witchie gulped with deep fear at the grim and dark fate they had just very narrowly avoided, and bowed again deeply to their sisters, this time all staying very silent as a form of apology. So instead of any protests from them, it was the groaning of the humans that could be heard.

The Greater Goddesses motioned towards the mortals with the wind. "It won't be long before they start to notice…"

The little goddesses stopped bowing for just a moment and looked back behind them. Almost immediately Witchie piped up, "Hey, what's up with Wayne…?"

And almost in tandem with her as she said it, Ludus also began to ask the very same thing, "Hey, what's up with Wayne…?" He asked, wonder in his voice.

Wayne blinked back at him, wondering why he was calling him out specifically. "Whaddya mean…?"

"Your eye." Ludus went on, "Your scar. What happened to that big scar you've always had on your left eye?"

Wayne blinked openly at that, completely taken aback. "S-Scar?"

Ludus pressed on, sure of his recollection. "Yeah, the scar over your left eye! You said you got into a lot of scraps as a kid, and that one day you picked a fight with the wrong delinquent, and he pulled out a pocket knife and slashed your left eye! So ever since then you stopped getting into scraps, and that's why they call you Right-Eyed Wayne!"

Wayne took a step back in shock. "H-Hey! Now I'm sure I would stop getting into scraps right away if something like THAT ever happened to me, but that never happened!"

Ludus started to get angry at that. "What, you calling me a liar? You think I don't know what my own friend looks like, you weird doppelganger?"

Iluka heatedly defended her foster-brother. "Yeah, I remember Wayne always having a scar on his eye too! But I thought it was his right eye…?"

Suddenly she seemed a little unsure, and then Siluka mentioned, "It was definitely his right eye that had the scar. But then, Iluka, what happened to the scar on your hand from when you injured it as a kid, that time we were lost at sea…?"

The two sisters looked at each other silently after that, very concerned, while Ford also spoke up in Wayne's defense, "Ahem! I have been Wayne's doctor for several years and I can say definitively that the man I have treated has NEVER had a scar over either of his eyes!"

The scar-less Wayne sighed with relief as his old friend defended him. "Thanks Ford, ol' pal…" He replied slowly, so grateful that he neglected to mention that this new Ford had no scar on his own face as HE remembered – A burn from a fire in his childhood that had inspired him to become a doctor… Instead, he simply mentioned, "Hey, you guys… This is really weird. What in the heck is going on…?"

All of them looking around at each other, they all realized it in unison. They all remembered each other's faces, but at the same time, each was just a little bit and yet completely different than it should be…

The major goddesses finally addressed their younger counterparts once again. "Alright. Now you must proceed with your spell. You wanted to converse with the lover of the crossroads, get all the 'juicy details', as it were. Well, now every one of them must do so, must tell you about their lover who lives at the crossroads, how they met them, how they look like, their history, all that they know of them, and all the romantic details of their courtship and married life. Each and every one must confess them all to you and everyone around them before they are allowed to return to their normal life. Now go on, they can see you now, go impose on and embarrass them!"

Suddenly in the eyesight of all the mortals around them, the three little goddesses felt immensely ashamed instead of grand and glorious like they had been planning. However, all of the mortals around them were looking at them in wonder, apparently realizing wordlessly what they were on their own before the child gods began to speak.

Inari was first to address them, ever the professional… Or at least, she was trying to be. "U-Um… So, it is we! I mean, us? Oh dear…" She sighed, no longer trying to salvage how awful this must look. "Look mortals, it is indeed us, the guardian deities of your towns. But you really shouldn't praise us at all…"

"We messed up BIG TIME…" Witchie admitted heavily. "BIG TIME. Bigger than I've EVER messed up before…"

Dessie simply sniffled and cried like a little child after a very strong scolding…

Inari went on for them, "We made not just one, but two unforgivably large errors… We worded a spell too poorly, and we invoked a power that was much greater than we realized. The power of the crossroads… We asked to talk to the lover of the person who lived at the crossroads, because we used to talk to the person at the crossroads, and we missed them. But we didn't realize that, unlike all of you, who exist in every alternate version of this reality, even if a little different each time… Apparently the person who lives at the crossroads is a COMPLETELY different person in every one!"

They had realized this just a moment ago, when each goddess telepathically shared with each other an image of the girl they thought was the same person when talking to each other. Her image had been completely different in each of the three pictures they provided…

"So, uh, now…" Witchie started to hesitantly admit…

Until Dessie finally just burst out, "WE'RE SO, SOOOOO SORRY! We j-just wanted to hear some r-romantic stories and get to know our special friend's lover and family! Now b-because of our mistake, you all have to tell us all about your lover and your life with them, and until you do, we can't put the worlds back to normal!"

Witchie finally just sighed and conceded, "Sorry…"

Inari bowed deeply to the mortals. "Our deepest apologies…"

Their mistake was admittedly pretty phenomenally huge, but it was hard to hold a grudge against a being infinitely more powerful than you, which you have worshipped all your life. And extra hard to do so when they were just so gosh-darn cute besides…

So finally the mortals all sighed, and resigned themselves to the task ahead of them. "Well then…" Wayne spoke up. "Who goes first? Like what, do we do this spin the bottle style…?"

Ludus shrugged. "Well, we all have to do it eventually. So, how about the least shy and most outgoing of us just go ahead first, and the shyer ones can just volunteer when they're ready?"

Everyone in attendance nodded silently. Then Ludus went ahead and raised his hand. "I'll go ahead then! Aloha everyone! My name is Ludus! I mean, I guess we already knew that but…" He cleared his throat and skipped over the blunder, "Okay, so. My lover who lives at the crossroads. Let me tell you all about them…"

Well, to start, her name is Sali. S-A-L-I. It's pronounced just like Sally, but it's Sali. She's got brown skin like me, with lavender eyes and amethyst hair. But her family is light-skinned, with blonde hair. She's adopted. Her adoptive father was a tough but loving man. He wasn't sure about her starting a farm at the crossroads, not because he didn't think she was strong enough necessarily, but because the family that had abandoned her as a child had once come from either Lulukoko or one of the surrounding islands. But she didn't come there to try and chase after her missing parents, she really wanted to be a farmer. She's a darn good one too. She's got a preference for Summer crops. Her banana and coconut trees have the most amazing fruit, and her pineapple juice and jams have won awards…"

Clearing his throat, he paused to think for a moment, before continuing, "She, um, likes to wear this really pretty and colorful tube top outfit when she's working out in the sun… Hehe, when winter comes along she's so out of her element, she finds it hard to want to put on the extra clothes, even in the bitter cold! She's definitely a summer child. And well, haha, so is the child we had together last year! A Summer Son. We named him Sami."

Several of the others clapped in congratulations for him. The shyer ones simply smiled. He continued after they were done, "It's kind of funny… When Sali first came to town, I kinda saw her as a lot like my ohana, like Iluka and Siluka. I kinda saw her as a sister. But then I realized that she probably didn't think of me as a brother… And that I didn't want her to, either. It's just, things were always so easy and uncomplicated around her, so natural, as if we were already ohana from the moment we met. And she told me that the ohana that had left her didn't matter to her, because me and the twins were her ohana now… We like all the same kinds of crops and foods. We like the same kind of bright colors and tropical styles. Our house is a very colorful jungle-theme abode, with lots of purple and blue. Cerulean tile floors and turquoise-painted walls. There's always a light, positive vibe going on inside. Like the warmth of sunrise, the ocean breeze, or the sand between your toes. Yeah. Our love is simple like that, but just as wonderful…"

As he finally finished, the group around him was left in an impressed silence, before again bringing forth applause, this time from everyone in attendance.

"The sand between yer toes, huh?" Wayne grinned after he was through. "Well, that's kinda funny. Because my gal, her name is actually Sandy… Although, hey, one quick thing before I tell y'all about her – Ludus! That Wayne you know, does he still get a lot of attention from the ladies with that big ol' scary scar he's got?"

Ludus rolled his eyes back at him. "Dude… Are you kidding? He's probably got more fangirls than you because of it!"

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	2. Chapter 2

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"Well, now…" Wayne went on with a smile, "My Sandy was born in Spring, but our wedding was in Winter. See?" Suddenly he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a white card, with blue lettering and gold accents. It had been in that pocket for almost two years, and he intended to keep it there until the day he died. On it "Wayne and Sandy's Winter Wedding!" was emblazoned in metallic blue letters, and he let everyone pass it around to take a look before going on.

"It was the prettiest thing, and my Sandy was the prettiest of all. She's got brown skin too, but her eyes are blue, and she keeps her hair a light or medium shade of blue, which she usually matches with this pretty aqua skort or her blue camisole... But that Winter, and every Winter since, she dyes her hair pure white, which she matches with a sweet white and blue long apron dress. She looks like a goddess out there on her farm no matter what season it is, but she's especially beautiful to me in winter. She also has a hobby of growing pearls, she has half a field dedicated to it, so she's always wearing a bunch of beautiful pearl necklaces and earrings, she's known around the towns for it, and she even named farm 'Pearl Girl Farm'!"

He takes back the card as it comes back to him and smiles, nodding his head and tipping his hat to the calm and cool Kasumi, who is the last to read it. "But, as for my darling's favorite crops, those really bloom in spring! She's got the gosh-darned biggest potatoes you ever laid eyes on, her and her cherries and strawberries? They can get as big as your whole hand, I swear it! One or two fruits tops can usually make a whole pie! People travel from far and wide to buy a fresh one from the market in Westown, which Sandy has single-handedly made world-famous since coming to town~"

Yuzuki groaned again, but this time not from the pain of the fall, but the pain of his stomach grumbling. Despite it he was grinning apologetically, "Oh no… Now I really want some cherry pie and strawberry shaved ice!"

Wayne laughed and tipped his hat to him too. "Sorry about that! Um, we also enjoy a lotta pickles! My babe has the biggest monster cucumbers you ever seen! Cut one up and you can fill a whole jar. We chill them and take them on picnics on hot sunny days, and we can't wait to take our little ones on picnics too! They're not born yet, but my Sandy is pregnant with our first, and whatever it is, boy or girl, we've already agreed we want to give them a sibling sooner than later!"

He grinned bashfully, "It's actually kinda funny looking back on it though, because we didn't exactly hit it off from the start like you and your lover did, Ludus. The first time Sandy saw me, I was in a pickle with a rather, ah, overenthusiastic fan! I called out to her for help, and she turned her nose up at me and told me cold as ice, "Help yourself, playboy." Hah! Well I can't deny my reputation got a little out of hand for a while there. But that's when I decided that I didn't want to be like that anymore, and before long, Sandy and I were so close we'd never abandon each other! But I do forgive my darling for doing it the first time. I deserved it!"

He laughed, and the others either laughed politely with him or nodded in agreement. Wayne then pressed on, "Well, I think that's about what I care to share for now, without blathering on too much about my babe, which I could easily start to do - So who wants to go next?"

There was a short pause this time, before Iluka raised her hand up at the same time as Hinata. Hinata quickly relented, "Ah - Sorry! Go ahead! Two guys have already gone, so, ladies first this time!"

Iluka nodded in agreement. "That's very chivalrous. In that case you can let me and my sister go ahead, and then you can go. Okay?" She added, knowing her shy and flighty sister, or any copy of her, would probably forget to go at all until the end unless she spoke up for her. Siluka just seemed touched that she still referred to her as sister, even though it wasn't exactly so...

Hinata nodded again in agreement, and Iluka began, "Well, my man's name is Jude. And he's kind of, you know, awesome. Of course. He'd have to be, to catch a prize like me!"

Siluka smiled, and Ludus rolled his eyes. Iluka went on, minding neither of them, "He looks really cool. He's got deep tan-olive skin, and is hair is this really dark blue, kinda almost indigo. Just a shade darker than you, Ludus. He usually kicks back in knickerbockers or this blue and black wild farmer outfit, or his wild west cowboy outfit. He looks like a total rock star when he wears those~" She blushes, and covers up her extra comment quickly, "I mean, he's a farmer, of course! But if a farmer were a rock star, he'd totally be that rock star. His farm is called Black Star Farm, and he raises really good fall crops, maybe because he was born in fall... He has big, bright purple eggplants, dark green nutritious spinach, and giant carrots, which he feeds to his big black horse, Duke. He's also got two black cows, a black llama, and a dark grey rabbit. Anyone wanna guess his favorite color? Haha~"

Suddenly the taste of chai was on her tongue, as well as a pressing memory she felt the need to share. "He also grows really super good tea leaves too, and bright red, juicy chili peppers! He makes them into the very best chai tea you've ever tasted! And he makes it just for me! Hehe, that's how he won my heart you see... He found out that chai tea was my favorite, so he worked his butt off to grow the best ingredients, then started bringing me it to me every day! Pretty soon he spoiled me, and after that I couldn't be satisfied with tea anywhere else anymore! So of course I had to marry him after that!"

Laughing, she outstretched her hand, showing off her ring finger, where a gigantic and sparkling pink diamond sat on a gold band. Clearly it costed a fortune. She smirked and winked, "And well, he really does know just what I like~!"

There were some appreciative 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the girls and from Yuzuki, who definitely knew a heirloom piece when he saw one. Iluka went on, "Truthfully... I don't know what made him try so hard for me when I was so rude to him at first, but I try to be a good wife for him too... I grill the fish he catches and I make delicious salads from his crops for dinner, and when he's working hard out in the field on a hot day, once in a while I like to bring him a fruit juice or a smoothie. He does work really hard to spoil me so, I guess he deserves it... But I deserve it too! Especially because just a few months ago, I gave him a healthy set of twins! A boy and a girl, named Jaden and Jules!"

Siluka then spoke up, excitedly. "You had twins too? So did I!"

Iluka gasped, then laughed. "Hey! That's so cool! I guess we are Twin Sisters after all, just in a different way!" She then smiled, and urged the shyer twin to go on. "Well? Tell me about your lover too, then!"

Siluka nodded, smiling big, and began, "My lover... His name is Joe. Just plain old Joe. He's a pretty average guy, I think. Pale skin. Brown hair, like onions. Brown eyes, like cocoa. He dresses in plain work clothes most of the time, unless there's a big event, then he might put on something fancy he has in the back of his closet... He's very laid back. He works hard on his farm, though, so he earns a break when he decides to take one. I knew right away we'd be kindred spirits when I noticed him napping on the beach almost every day..."

There were some less than surprised glances shared by several of those around her. She went on heedless of them, "He works hard, but he also works smart. Two of his fields are tree orchards. He grows fruits for all seasons. He takes good care of them, but then otherwise he just waits for the fruit to come to him. Except for melons. Joe is a big fan of melons. Melons are the one thing Joe doesn't mind working hard to get."

Wayne, Ludus and Hinata snorted immaturely at that last comment. Yuzuki pinched a smile back knowingly and Ford seemed none the wiser. Iluka glared at them to keep it to themselves and let her oblivious and naive sister continue.

"He started bringing me fruit all the time, that's when I figured he liked me. I felt bad not needing to buy fruit at the local shop anymore, but he'd give me so much, and the fruits were so big and sweet. Gigantic star fruits and melons, kiwi and lychee. I make lots of fruit salads and sorbet. His cows make delicious milk for yogurt and ice cream too. It's so relaxing to hear them moo while I pet his soft white rabbits... My baby boys like them too. Their names are Jim and Jamal. We all like to take naps together by the beach, and by the pond by his orchard. He fishes there sometimes too, but one time, he fell asleep while holding a fishing pole, and then a big fish came along and tugged on the line so hard, Joe fell right into the pond! Haha~!"

The sleepy girl's surprising laughter roused everyone into a genuine laugh themselves. Iluka fanned herself after a good round of giggles. "Oh my! Yeah, Jude would never do something so embarrassing! But your Joe sounds very sweet! Too bad he let the fish go though!"

Siluka shook her head serenely at that. "Oh, no, as soon as he woke up, Joe got so mad he swam after the fish and caught it with his bare fists, dragging it back to land. That fish fed us for a long time. It weighed over two hundred pounds."

Her audience went very wide eyed at that, indeed. Apparently Joe was incredibly laid back and even a bit lazy like Siluka... But had next to superhuman strength when really compelled to do something!

While the others gawked and wondered at the end of her tale, the sisters smiled sincerely at each other, then Iluka turned again to Hinata. "Alright! You ready to go now?"

Hinata grinned and balled up a fist in excitement. "Okay! Let me tell you all about my wonderful new wife! You guys sure are in for a treat!"

Yuzuki reached over to pat him on the back. "I'm sure we are! I look forward to hearing all about my best friend's special and unique beloved!"

Kasumi smiled warmly, grasping her hands in front of her. "Yes, I call tell just by your smile that she's something special." However, though her smile was warm, she was still tense. The boys figured it was just her usual tenseness. Only Komari noticed how she kept glancing to the stone doors...

But, ignoring it for now, Komari nodded, enthusiastically thumping Hinata on the opposite side of his back. "Whoever she is, I bet she's a real peach!"

Hinata paused just a second in surprise at what she had said, before bursting into a great big smile again. "Haha! Well you'd win that bet for sure, Komari! Because believe it or not, her name is Momo!"

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	3. Chapter 3

Ever the performer, Hinata went right into the task of sharing his beloved like a book, like one of his scripts, with much enthusiasm and feeling to his voice, "Now of COURSE with a name like that, Momo grows the best darn peaches you'll find ANYWHERE! Anywhere in the whole world, PERIOD, you won't find peaches better or bigger than Momo's! So world famous she named the farm after them, Peachy Keen Farm! These peaches are as close as you get to a real life James and the Giant Peach, I'm telling ya! These peaches could practically be melons they're so enormous! Speaking of which she also grows amazing watermelons, and all kinds of other great Summer crops, since she was born in Summer! She grows the juiciest, most vibrant colored shiso, which she makes into the most delicious shiso juice! She's a sweetheart so she always brings me some to work every day, along with a SUPER delicious lunch! OH, and her PUMPKINS-!"

He had to stop to take a breath, he was about to go on another tirade without taking in air from the last. Once oxygenated, he went on again, "Just, ENORMOUS pumpkins! When the Pudding Jamboree comes around, the contents from just a couple of her pumpkins can make enough pudding for EVERY kid from EVERY town! Better believe all the kids holler for Momo's famous pumpkin pudding every year!"

He grinned even bigger as a blush added itself to his face, "Momo just loves kids… We just learned the other day that we're pregnant with our first, like you guys, Wayne! We're already thinking of naming it Yoh if it's a boy, and Anna if it's a girl!"

He was so excited, everyone gave him a long and loud round of applause. He bashfully rubbed the back of his head before continuing, "Boy or girl, I don't care as long as they're healthy. But I hope that whatever it is, they look just like Momo. She's so beautiful. She's got pale skin, and pale pink hair. Pink like a peach. Sometimes she dyes it a slightly darker pink or reddish pink. And her eyes are green, like two big perfect peridots! Pretty as she is, Momo of course has fantastic fashion sense, and a preference for pink. She's got a huge wardrobe! She wears a plum skort and a pink puffy flower skirt outfit in spring time, her pink morning glory yukata, the pink apron flower dress and the violet apron skirt in summer, the pink poncho and the pink girl's hanbok in fall, and the pink and red travel kimono in winter – Whew! Good thing my babe makes tons of cash on her own, because that clothing addiction would be hard on a starving artist's budget!"

He took a deep breath, then sighed it out. "But… Beautiful as she is, that's not the biggest reason I love Momo. Second biggest definitely, but the first is… Because she always believed in me. She watched me recite my lines, and helped me practice them. Then she actually came to my plays! She applauded for me! She congratulated me when my play got pretty good reviews! But she was there for me when I got bad reviews, too. She told me to keep believing and working on my dream when I got down in the dumps over it. Even now, I'm not at the top of my game just yet, but I've been making a lot of really promising progress! I have a new play coming out in the Winter and people are getting really buzzed about it! Me and Momo are really hopeful it will do well!"

Komari grinned for her friend, "I'm sure it will, Hinata."

Hinata grinned back at her and gave her a nudge. "Well Komari, how about you? Who's the guy who stole your heart and what crazy thing did your dad do to him to try and get it back?"

Komari turned red and puffed, "Watch it, Hinata! And anyways…" She went on, not even trying to deny it. "My Michio was smart enough to butter my dad up before ever trying to make a move on me! He came to my dad not long after we first met, and offered to provide the restaurant with fresh ingredients from his farm. But my dad let him know right off the bandwagon, our restaurant had a quality standard! Now his stuff was good, market worthy definitely, but my dad told him, no offense, but he'd have to do better if he wanted to do business with him and the reputation of his restaurant. And well, he took no offense at all. In fact, we hardly saw him at all for a year because he took it as a personal challenge. When he came back, he had some of the best quality rice and sticky rice around, the greenest, most pungent wasabi you ever got a whiff of, amazing quality soy beans and an assortment of great Tsuyukusa veggies. When my dad saw his dedication to the ingredients, he offered to teach him how to cook too. And Michio most humbly accepted…"

She reached into her apron pocked and pulled out a picture of him. He was a red-haired man with dark grey eyes, and in the picture she held, he was wearing a very handsome red cook's uniform. "He won that outfit from a big cooking competition after studying under my father for another year. By then he was practically family. And to me, well, he was a lot more than that, because by then he had confessed to me that the whole reason he worked so hard hoping to impress my father, was that he hoped that he could stay near me… But I had to ask him something! I asked him, do you really wanna stay by a loud-mouth like me forever and ever? Especially because my mom was gone so often… I didn't want to put a lover or a child through that. So I had to be sure that he really wanted to stay for the long haul… But then I already knew as much, as he reminded me too, that of course a guy that was willing to wait two years and dedicate himself to juggling a farming and cooking career just to get close enough to confess his feelings to me, wasn't going anywhere… So we decided enough beatin' around the bush, and we got married the next year! And well, we don't have any little ones running around just yet, but, I'm sure we'll have one sooner than later!"

"Oh…" A very feminine pitched voice piped up, for the first time tonight. "How romantic! He waited so long and worked so hard for you! That's just wonderful, Miss Komari…"

Komari blinked and blushed, "Aah, Lisette! Thank you so much! And do tell us about yourself now! You're such a beautiful fairy-tale flower-princess, I bet your prince is a handsome and chivalrous fella for sure!"

The Flower Princess blushed as all eyes now focused on her. Wayne added in encouragement, ever the charmer, "Hey, yeah! You been awful quiet tonight, darlin'. Tell us all about your Prince Charming. I'm sure he's a real swell fella, even if he isn't really a prince!"

Lisette blushed and struggled to hold back a giggle, covering her smile with her hand politely. "Oh, well, thank you, Wayne… But truthfully, the man who came along and swept me off my feet… Just happened to actually be a prince!"

A few eyes went wide in shock at this as well. A few looked less than surprised, though. Looking down bashfully, Lisette went on to explain. "My husband's name is Cyril. He's a lesser prince who wasn't needed for ruling or other responsibilities, so he decided to become a farmer. I'm afraid his father was right to worry about him, though! At least, at first. He wasn't exactly a hard worker or a genius at farming. Honestly he was a bit silly and flighty. His produce was standard and not very plentiful, more for just his own use at home than marketing. He was awfully fond of letting days go by fishing too. He didn't really have any motivation until he met me… Then suddenly, it seems, he was struck by inspiration."

Growing nearby were a couple of precious calla lily plants, in full bloom. Approaching them, Lisette carefully stroked a petal, though she dared not pluck it from this sacred place. "Like your Michio, Cyril almost disappeared for over a whole year. He would only been seen in town once in a great while, to buy supplies and seeds. He bought a lot of flower seeds from me, so I saw him more than almost anyone else at that time. He told me he was working on something big, but that he wouldn't say until it was done. Well then, one fine Fall day, he came to me out of the blue and announced that his year-long toil was complete, and that he wanted me to be the first to see it. Excitedly I followed him to his farm, and when we arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes…"

Even now, those eyes filled up with happy tears as they had then. "He had PERFECTED the art of flower growing! Every single type of bloom that can be grown in these parts, he grew to absolute perfection. Every flower was bursting with color, and so unbelievably sweet and fragrant, I could still smell their perfume on me hours later! And the best part… Oh my goodness, the best part is, my sweet dashing prince, he had placed all the pink and red flowers in his field in a giant arrangement that read, 'I LOVE YOU LISETTE'!, inside of a giant multi-colored heart made of all the other flowers!"

Komari and the twins immediately burst out into coos of adoration for the grand gesture, and Kasumi had to cover her mouth to keep from making the undignified noise herself. After a short squeal of delight at the memory, Lisette went on, "He told me, that I was the princess he'd always dreamed he'd find someday. And of course, I'd been dreaming someone would do something so amazingly sweet for me ever since I was a little girl! I never thought an actual prince would be the one to do it, but that didn't matter to me anymore anyways. Cyril was first and foremost an honest and upstanding man, ready to work hard for something to believe in. He just needed someone to believe in him too… So we started a little life together, and we became well-known together. Him, for his gorgeous and fragrant flower fields, and me for arranging them into beautiful bouquets and making the sweetest perfumes from them. He also got at least a little better at growing fruits and vegetables too. He keeps a small garden right in front of the house that he takes very good care of. It's enough to keep us more than well fed. Leftovers go to our chickens, which my husband adores! Um… And I'm sure he'll adore our child too… Though I haven't even told him about it yet, because I just found out myself the other day!" She exclaimed bashfully, blushing and holding her stomach protectively.

The girls all gasped for her then, and the men-folk beamed proud smiles her way. Wayne tipped his hat, misty-eyed.

"Your husband will be ecstatic, trust me." Ludus informed her confidently. "…Probably should make sure he's sitting when he finds out though!"

All the men-folk also murmured in agreement at that, and the ladies rolled their eyes.

Ford cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "My congratulations to you, Miss Lisette. I'm sure the Ford you know will ensure a healthy birth for you when the time comes."

Lisette's blushed burned a darker pink at that. "O-Oh, thank you, Ford… Would you perhaps like to tell us about your lover now?"

It was now the doctor's turn to blush. "I... Suppose I could..."

Clearly though, he was hesitating. They all noticed it.

The first to finally speak up over his deafeningly stubborn silence was Siluka, who finally just said aloud what they were all either thinking or feeling, "Your Aura has gotten rather dark... Is your lover okay?"

His eyes went wide, and he looked down at the ground. His eyes welled up with water against his wishes. He quickly wiped them away with the back of his glove. "She's fine. We're fine. But..." He crossed his arms over his chest subconsciously, defending his heart already without thinking about it. "I'm afraid to say... Our story hasn't been entirely as happy as all of yours so far... You see, although I'm relieved to report that my wife, Kym, is now eight months along with a healthy baby girl, which we expect to deliver close to Kym's birthday in early Winter-time... Our first pregnancy, a son... Didn't make it to full term."

His words laid a heavy feeling over everyone's heart. Without waiting for anyone's words of pity, the doctor explained in a humorless huff, "It really makes no sense. Nothing can account for it. I'm a doctor, of course my wife was properly advised on her pregnancy from conception on! She did everything right, took all her vitamins, didn't over-work herself too much... It just wasn't meant to be..."

They allowed him a moment of silence. Wayne removed his hat and placed it over his heart. After finally returning it to his head, he finally spoke up. But he didn't provide the apology he knew this Ford was dreading. Instead he remarked with a sad smile and tears in his eyes, his voice choked up, "That little girl is gonna be the biggest joy of your life." The others who weren't too choked up immediately murmured in agreement.

"Definitely. Ohana is love, and ohana is life." Ludus joined in.

"For what it's worth..." Inari suddenly spoke up from where the three goddesses stood with their heads bowed, ashamed at having made this poor man relive such a horribly painful memory. Everyone around her went quiet to hear what the goddess finally had to say. "We're sending you all extra strong blessings right now. I guarantee the safe birth of all future progeny..."

Lisette breathed an audible sigh of relief. Komari and Kasumi both reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder in support. Even still though, Kasumi couldn't help glancing again at the stone doors, and this time the twins noticed her too, glancing at them themselves now. They hadn't noticed before, wrapped up in other's tales and their own, but now they saw it clear. There was an extra aura hiding behind each door...

But they chose to ignore it for now. Instead Iluka spoke up to the doctor, uncharacteristically rather kind for once. "I'm very sorry about your loss, Sir... But please, tell us about the good times, too. What made you fall in love with this Kym?"

The memories that accompanied this request, and the added relief of the extra blessings, finally put a genuine smile on the doctor's face. "Yes. I'll tell you. When I met her, I never in a million years would have guessed the beautiful young newcomer at the crossroads would ever turn her eye to me..."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

(( Ford and Kym are up next, after that will be Yuzuki and his lover Kimi, and Kasumi and Kenshin. And then, the mystery guests... ;D BTW hope you guys got a kick out of the special references. Yoh and Anna are characters from an anime, and Prince Cyril is a character from another Harvest Moon game. x3 Alright, hope you enjoyed and if you do please review~ ))


	4. Chapter 4

He shrugged simply, "...But, she apparently did! Although I was none the wiser for much longer than I should have been. My future wife was exceedingly patient with me. But not just because she's some special sort of personal martyr for me... She truly understands my viewpoint. I remember not long after we met, Wayne and Brad were accusing me unfairly one day at the restaurant of being a numb-skull! Apparently some poor silly patient of mine had gotten a crush on me, and Wayne and Brad expected that I should have figured that out for myself even though the girl didn't tell me anything directly at all, and in any case, it didn't matter because it was obviously just an emotional attachment due to the extended treatment she had received under my care. They felt more badly for the girl and thought I was being slow-witted and cold-hearted, but when they asked her to agree with them, Kym defended me instead! Which... No one had really ever done for me before..." He suddenly admitted, his pale cheeks turning red.

Wayne smiled big for him, but he couldn't help but tease him too, "Not my Sandy! She agreed with me and Brad!"

Ford pushed up his glasses and gave him a weak-hearted glare, though he was smiling too. "And that's why Sandy married you, and Kym married me! And another reason Kym married me is because although she understands me, although she's a kindred spirit, and a woman of intellect... She's also quite... Eccentric! I supposed she'd have to be, to fall for a man like me. But she doesn't just agree with me all the time, she throws me for a loop constantly. She challenges me, which keeps things interesting. She opens my mind to different viewpoints. And she doesn't just look at me oddly when I don't understand something. She explains it to me in a way so that I can. I'm sure you all know, though I'm a very intelligent man, sometimes people and their behaviors confuse me more than the average person..."

They all nodded quietly at the admission, and said nothing more on it. Ford nodded and went on, "She's never judged me for it, because she can be a little bit like that herself too, at times. Not as bad as me, but enough that she understands what I go through. Because of that I grew to trust her deeply over time. And once she knew she'd earned my trust, that's when she confessed to me..."

A bright, big smile stretched across his face as he remembered it, "She'd bring me presents nearly every day usually, or at least often enough when she was busy with her farm. She'd bring coffee, and samples of her crops and animal byproducts. She spoils her chickens and as a result is known for having the finest eggs anywhere. And though her crops began as barely more than mediocre, she refused to relent until she got the results she wanted. For the most part she focuses on practical staple crops such as wheat, corn and sugar. She produces these in large quantities and of high quality, then she donates large amounts of it or sells it for very cheap to the local folk. You see, she wanted to be a farmer first and foremost to help feed the world, not just for personal gain. But, she's gained plenty a lot too! She's grown apples and grapes that are well known for being almost sinfully large and sweet, packed with nutrients. She donates a lot of these too for juice, along with the milk from her cows, to help feed the local schoolchildren. She's very generous like that, always giving gifts to everyone. Her property is even called 'Giving Tree Farms'. So of course I thought nothing of also getting little gifts from her now and then. But then one day..."

His audience was waiting to be told of some grand gesture. Some terribly romantic thing that even a man as dense as Ford couldn't miss. Sighing dreamily through a dopey grin, Ford informed them, "One day... She asked me if she could kiss me! And that's when I knew for sure that she liked me!"

Several of the others nearly fell over. A couple of them audibly smacked their foreheads. What else were they expecting? Of course only the most blunt and straightforward approach would get through to that man!

Almost just as oblivious as he'd been that day, Ford went on without a care for their groans or eye rolling. "I asked her if she was sure that she wanted to settle for someone like me, even though I was quite a bit older than her..." He remembered his wife rolling her eyes when he brought that up. Apparently she didn't think being nine years apart was that big an issue. "But she made sure to get it through to me that I was her ideal match, and that she had absolutely no intention of marrying anyone else. So I finally gave in to her and made her mine, and we were married the next Spring. I still can't imagine why she chose me, except that my dear is known for being eccentric in all things. She keeps the standard staple crops, but then once in a while she'll feel irresistibly compelled to try growing something exotic, like a mango tree, or that one time she realized she loved tapioca pudding and next thing I knew we had a whole field of cassava! Or, in the way she dresses - She'll sometimes wear the clothes I've picked out for her, a lovely cream-colored dress or a brown buttondown dress... But sometimes she feels the need to dress in such bright, bold, colorful outfits! Like this short cheongsam she won in a competition, with purple roses on the top and burgundy shorts... That, or her snow-pattern kimono. Admittedly, I have a great fondness for the snow-pattern kimono... But I'm sure we make for quite the pair when walking down the street together!"

Pulling out his wallet from his coat pocket, Ford pulled out a picture of his wife to show the other. She was a pale-skinned beauty with hair the same shade of gold as her famously sweet wheat, and eyes of blue. When the picture went around, everyone simply glanced at it polite, except for Yuzuki, who upon getting hold of the picture, suddenly began staring at it, his mouth falling open. Rushing to explain the behavior, he sputtered, "D-Doctor Ford! I can hardly believe it, but... Your wife could almost pass for a twin of my wife!"

Taking back the picture, Ford raised a brow at him, "Oh?"

Yuzuki nodded, reaching into his robes and pulling out a picture of his beloved as well. It was a family picture, including not just Yuzuki and his wife, but also two little girls, one who seemed about 5 or 6 years old, and a toddler of 2 or 3. Everyone in the image had dark green hair and eyes, just like Yuzuki's. Despite the difference in colors, Ford could see clearly that the mother had a face almost identical to his wife.

Yuzuki explained, "My Kimi's hair is naturally a pale blonde color, but she started dyeing it to match mine soon after we met. That was my first clue that she liked me. It wasn't at all hard to fall back in love with her either, because we had so much in common, we just naturally gravitated to each other. We had the same favorite color, our birthdays are only days apart, and when I introduced her to Tsuyukusa's cuisine, she left most of her old Westown recipes in the dust! Well, except the desserts. She's got a sweet tooth like me! And any treat she knows I like, she works tirelessly for months to grow the best quality she can. When she learned how many of my favorite recipes contain adzuki beans, she grew the best ones she could to make the snacks she made for me even more healthy and nutritious! Which considering my health problems and how long it takes to grow adzuki beans, was a very sweet thing for her to trouble herself with, indeed. She also never shied away when I told her about my health issues, either. And I was very straightforward about it from the beginning. I almost hoped she would drift away when she realized the extra baggage being with me would come with... But in fact, it only drew her closer to me. It seems she too was sickly as a child, which was why her father insisted so much at first that she wasn't strong enough to handle the farm, and why she desired so much to do so anyways - To grow healthy food to keep other people healthy. So she understood all too well what I had gone through..."

He placed his index finger and thumb along his chin while he hummed in thought, "I suppose that's partly why she doesn't care to see her natural hair color or be reminded of her folks. She holds no grudge or ill-will, but she probably still feels disheartened by how they didn't support her when she tried to tell them about her dream. How they treated her like an invalid who would drop dead from a little hard work. I think her keeping her hair dyed to match our family is her subtle way of telling everyone, 'This is where I really belong'..."

He smiled and took back the picture as it came back his way. "As you can see we have two daughters! The eldest is named Hazuki and the younger one is called Mizuki. I may seem like I'm still young, but my wife and I have been together several years already. Her estate, called 'Golden Years Farms', is quite well established. As I've mentioned, she's known for growing the best adzuki beans you can find anywhere, and she also keeps a wonderful little grove of cherry trees because she knows I like them too. My Kimi can grow just about anything, but she's become most famous for her high-quality honey and maple syrup! She grows the largest, most gorgeous morning glory flowers, and her treasured bees make them into such rich, delicious honey, it can hardly even be called honey at all! It's the more like sweet, sticky manna of the gods! Her maple gets made into maple candies, which are so famous they get sold in stores across the country, and shipped internationally as well! She of course donates a lot of the proceeds from this as well, especially because she also found a rich, untapped mine a couple of years ago when transforming her cellar into more farmland, and after donating practically half of that as well, she still had enough left to renovate our home - Which was then even featured in a magazine! I happen to keep a copy on me, so here..."

Pulling the publication out of his robes, Yuzuki flipped it open to an ear-marked page, then handed it around. Eyes were bulging in seconds. Iluka was the first to comment, "What the HECK! Who builds a whole HOUSE out of GOLD?!"

"There's even a gold dragon on top of the horse stall..." Komari mentioned, brow raised.

"Hmm? Oh, turn the page." Yuzuki added nonchalantly, "There's two more gold dragons inside. Next to the treasure chest and the pile of gold dubloons. They're holding up a ruby the size of a melon. Apparently some pirates buried treasure on Kimi's estate many years ago! Lucky us, huh?"

"Well, Yuzuki IS a jeweler. I suppose if anyone were to have a gold and jewel-encrusted house, it'd be him..." Kasumi mentioned, the least impressed of the group. Iluka, clearly the most envious, was planning to advise her husband to take a very close look at their cellar when she got home...

"True." Yuzuki agreed, "But I'm still glad my wife makes such good money on her own. Even I wouldn't be able to afford an entire house made of gold! Plus, like Hinata's Momo, my Kimi has a bit of a clothing addiction. Thankfully her favorite color is also green, so her wardrobe is most pleasing to my eyes - For example, she tends to wear a puffy green polka dot skirt in Spring, the emerald sundress in Summer, the green scale-pattern kimono in fall, and the green haikara dress in winter... Oh! I almost forgot my favorite outfit, silly me - There's also the ninja suit!"

"...Ninja?" Hinata parroted after him, confused. "Yuzuki, your wife is a ninja...?"

"Hmm? Of course not." The green-haired artist grinned mischievously. "But she does occasionally like to dress up as a ninja, complete with a pair of black kitty ears. Then she'll wait in hiding until she catches me unawares, then she'll pounce on me, and soon after that we'll both be purring like kittens!"

Every face in the circle went red in an instant. A few snorted into embarrassed giggles, the others hid their blushing faces behind sleeves or paper fans. Komari was doing a bit of both, covering her face with her sleeve while also failing miserably to hold back round upon round of giggles. "Y-Y-Yuzuki! What on earth, how could you SAY that-?! AHAHAHA-!"

Yuzuki's impossibly large grin somehow only managed to widen. "What? The goddesses wanted to know ALL about our lovers! That means all the 'juicy details', right my holy little ladies?" He asked, sending a smirk and wink to the tiny divinities, who all blushed very hard at the beautiful boy's bold and saucy antics, indeed!

Kasumi coughed, and Yuzuki glanced at her next. "Well Kasumi-san, I guess that means you're last. I must admit, I'm very interested to hear about your lover too! Hinata was always my best friend in boyhood, but my Kimi is good friends with you and Komari, so we have you over quite often. Our little girls think of you two as their aunts! Of course they love you both equally, but we simply can't get either of them to shut up about you! It's always "Aunt Kasumi is so pretty! Aunt Kasumi is so graceful and smart and strong! We want to be just like Aunt Kasumi when we grow up!" Honestly Kimi and I sometimes get a little jealous!"

The Tsuyukusa teacher blushed at this adorable praise, and though she was inspired by it, like Ford, she still seemed to hesitate.

Komari finally commented on her best friend's mood, "Hey, Kasumi... What's wrong?"

Immediately upon being asked, Kasumi's eyes once again went straight to the stone doors. "Well... I would find it a bit difficult to share personal details with a large group anyways, but it's especially nerve-wracking when there are unknown people in our midst, hiding! I know all of you, but I don't know who those people behind the doors are. I'm sorry, but until I know, I can't feel comfortable enough to share my story just yet..."

Inari nodded to and spoke for Kasumi's reasonable request, while the knowledge of the greater gods flowed through the ears of her and Dessie and Witchie on a slightly ticklish wind. "Our Elder Sisters say that what they can say for now, is that those two are very similar to you all, but also very different. They were needed to form a spiritual bridge that you'll need to get back to your original worlds. Think of them as the foundation or the pillars that hold you up, while you all make the part of the bridge you walk across. They will be revealed and bade to share their stories as well as soon as you have told yours and completed the 'bridge', so to speak. Does this meet your satisfaction, Kasumi-sama?"

Kasumi blushed more deeply and more quickly than she ever had in her life, at this literal god using such an honorific with her. Of course she immediately bowed her head very low, completely humbled. "Y-Yes, of course, that's absolutely f-fine!" She stumbled to apologetically agree, fanning herself with the paper fan she'd pulled out earlier when Yuzuki mouthed off about his 'Ninja Kitty'... Or, 'Kitty Ninja', or whatever they called that little game. She fanned herself harder.

"Okay, w-w-w-well, m-my lover, h-he, his, um-!"

"Whoa." Komari stopped her suddenly, going over to the girl and pulling her away for a second. "Hold on guys, give us just a minute..."

The others nodded knowingly while Komari took Kasumi to sit for a brief moment. While Komari fanned her, the goddesses came over and conjured her a glass of fresh spring water. After drinking it Kasumi sighed and felt much better, her red skin finally turning back to it's usual paleness. After that she came back, clasped her hands in front of her lap and, much more calmly this time, she began, "Ahem. My apologies. My lover's name is... Kenshin."

She paused after his name to take a good full breath, still clearly very nervous despite gathering her bearings for the most part. After exhaling again, she continued, "Kenshin is a fine young man... Though I didn't admit it for quite a while after we first met, I knew from the first time I met him that he was different from most of the men I'd known. I know that seems cliche, I told myself that for months, but he was just so well-mannered, well-spoken, well-dressed, and... Just, well, well-rounded in general!"

She was getting a little pink again, and Komari quickly started to fan her once more. Kasumi stopped, took another deep breath, and went on bravely, though she was remarking internally that this task really shouldn't BE harder than knocking out a full grown man, but somehow it still was! "I suppose he's somewhat like your lover Joe, Siluka. He's a simple man, in his own ways. He only wears his more elaborate garments on special occasions. Otherwise he usually just goes about in a simple blue or green jinbei. They both compliment him nicely though. You see, his eyes are this really lovely shade of greenish-blue. Or blueish-green. It's the perfect mix of the two colors. And his hair is raven black, like mine. He also keeps his hair long and flowing, somewhat like a woman's, and his face is rather, erm, androgynous? I suppose..." She seemed to gain control of her voice, but she was still blushing quite red now, while recalling her handsome husband's features.

"He sounds like a dream-boat already!" Komari cheered her on for support, while also still fanning her. "Keep going, Kasumi! I wanna hear more!"

Lisette also added, "He sounds very handsome! Please don't be shy, tell us more!"

"Details, details!" The twins chanted in unison.

Kasumi smiled bashfully. The task seemed a bit lighter a burden now. "Alright, alright..." She appeased them, "My lover Kenshin is also a very hard worker, and also seemed to tailor his farm to fit my desires. He raises the finest, greenest spinach, several varieties of radishes, and many other richly nutritious vegetables. He also has a large coop of chickens that has every type of chicken around these parts, and even a few other rare kinds of egg-laying birds that he brought from home. He's a very gentle soul who loves all kinds of animals, but he's especially fond of birds. He's an avid bird-watcher, so he can't abide by cats, but we do have a family dog. He's a wonderfully affectionate little beagle. He gets along very well with, and is very protective of the little daughter I bore him last Summer. My husband loved her so very dearly that he begged me to let him name her after his very own heart, Kokoro. I couldn't help but allow it, even though I had always rather liked the sound of Makoto. We named her Kokoro, but although I'm in no hurry to repeat the process of childbirth, I made him promise that if we ever had another, we'd name the next one Makoto~"

She smiled genuinely as the others gave her a polite applause for her labors. "Thank you... Though I love teaching children, I never thought about having them for my own until I met him... I suppose I thought, if the gods have been so kind as to have provided me with the most perfect, most beautiful, kind, intelligent, loving man, how can I not bring another being like him into the world, and make sure a worthy legacy like his continues on? Well, it certainly made my parents happy. They had begun to wonder if I could ever finally find a man to love enough to marry. But Kenshin is my ideal mate, my equal opposite, my one true companion. He's what they call the 'strong but silent' type, like me. He's always been so gentle with me, so understanding of my reservations. He's never pushed me further or quicker than I wanted to go. But the more I let myself be with him, the more I wanted to be with him, until I had to admit to myself, and then to him, that I never wanted us to be apart again. And really, that was quite something for me! Imagine me, the woman who had always avoided most men, practically like a plague, coming to terms with the fact that there was a man out there I wanted to be beside for the rest of my life... Of course I had to be sure, but when he finally stopped holding back for my sake, and actually kissed me for the first time... Well, I was definitely sure then!"

Komari fanned her burning face so furiously, Kasumi's hair was practically flying with how much wind her friend was kicking up. Trying in vain to hide what a tizzy she was in, Kasumi finally concluded, "Um, well - I think that's about it, then!"

Inari and the other goddesses nodded, and bowed in thanks for the tales they had so bravely told. "Very well. Thank you, everyone. Now we shall reveal the two behind these doors. But before we do, please be warned - We know you'll be shocked by what you see. Hearing your voices, the ones behind the doors have probably already put it together for themselves. But just know what what you will see, and what you will hear from them, is completely normal and natural and healthy, just as much as any of you are. Alright now... Witchie?"

The Lukukoko goddess nodded, and stretched out her hands towards the doors, which began to rumble and shake and then lift by themselves. As soon as the doors opened, the two people waiting within stepped into view. Though they were warned not to be shocked, there were several deep gasps, especially from Kasumi, and from Hinata, who let out a sharp cry of surprise.

Standing in the doorways... Was another Hinata, and another Kasumi. A complete copy of them in every way. There was no scars or other differences to separate them, they were even wearing the same clothes and had their hair styled the exact same way. If not told otherwise, any outsider would assume they were a pair of completely identical twins.

So far, only the two newest additions knew what made them so different from the others...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

(( Alright! Only one or two more chapters to go tops! Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and if you do, please let me know! :D ))


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, this is officially entering 'way too weird' territory..." Hinata commented weakly, his right eye twitching while his double was doing the same, but with his left eye... "We're not going to, like, blow up or cause a black hole by seeing each other, right...?"

Witchie immediately huffed, "H-Hey! Obviously that hasn't already happened so what are you even joking around about it for? Yeesh!"

Dessie sniffled erratically, "A-Anyways! Let's just finish what we're all here to do! You've all done a great job so far, and so will the rest of you - Now, which one of you will go first?"

This time, the new Hinata was the one who hesitated, and the new Kasumi, although still very reserved, seemed much more confident and purposeful. She nodded to the younger, shorter male, and stepped forward first. "Salutations, everyone." She began, much more smoothly than her counterpart. "My name is also Kasumi. But I'll simply be frank, because I really can't avoid it anyways-" And yet despite that, she did still hesitate just a tick, pausing and blushing. "My lover, from the crossroads... She is a female. And her name is... Summer."

She paused again, distant for a moment, faraway for just a second, in her mind's eye. There with her lover again. She didn't care about any of the shocked stares or blushes around her. As far as she was concerned, they were just as distant as her lover was now, and her lover was just as close as they were.

"It's a simple name, but also a significant one." She continued after a moment, "Obviously she was born in Summer, but it was very late in Summer. A day later and it would have been Fall. And well, it's almost as if my lover personifies this in her very essence, her very being. She's a tanned skinned girl, kissed by the Summer sun many days in a row. And her hair is the loveliest, most vibrant color - This wildly natural coppery-orange, like a roasted carrot, or like the Summer sun itself at low sunset. If she ever dyed it, I really do believe I'd cry. But she's too naturally inclined for such things. She wears simple garments suitable for work, most of the time, and she can barely be bothered to put those lovely wavy locks into braids after showering. Sometimes I volunteer to do it for her..."

She decided not to mention she did so in order to smell the heavenly peach-honey-chamomile shampoo her lover made for her own use, but instead decided to comment on her lover's beloved crops, "Naturally, she also is inclined to Summer crops, though she also grows a few good fall ones. She had superb quality peaches, pumpkins, orange and lemon trees. Her special 'Sunny Day Farm' Lemonade has won awards and is much preferred over most lemonade brands. She's also very attached to her grove of cacao trees. She is a chocolate fiend and the famed master chocolatiers that hound her for her beans must compete with her very own appetite. I'm not sorry to admit that she shamelessly charges them an exorbitant amount for her cacao, since she is also very generous to the locals and their children. Like your lover, Doctor Ford, Summer is happy to keep the world fed, and she supplies staple crops to all the towns and to the local schools. Milk and wheat and corn to Westown, rice and various kinds of beans to Tsuyukusa, and to Lulukoko she gifts with all her surplus fruits. She sends a special gift of peaches to the alter in Lulukoko quite often. When asked why she tells people she's a witch in training, and that her master loves peaches. She even has three cats, a black, white and tortoiseshell, and she dresses up in a special silly pumpkin dress on the pumpkin jamboree, and tells the children she uses magic to make her pumpkin puddings taste so good. I used to think she just said that for fun and to scare the children into not making mischief on her farm, even though she's gone as far as to decorate our whole house with a magical theme..."

"Mmm, I don't know! Your Summer sounds like a smart mortal to me~" Witchie remarked with a toothy grin, mouth watering for some tribute now herself.

The second Kasumi smiled at that, "Yes. She is very intelligent... But more than that, she's confident in herself... If not for her I'm not sure I ever would have confessed. I'd like to think I would have in time, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep it in forever. But luckily for us, Summer didn't let me leave that up to chance. One day, she asked me outright if I liked any boys at all. I was coy at first. I answered yes but of course I was referring only to my friends. Then she asked me if I had ever liked girls the way girls were expected to like boys... Even after being asked so directly, I was too shy to admit to it at first. Fumbling and stuttering, I told her no. And then Summer said something I'll never, ever forgot..."

She looked up again with a smirk at everyone else. "She told me, "Kasumi, I'm a farmer. I fertilize my crops every single day. So... I know bullshit when I see it." Ahahaha~!"

Many of the others sputtered into laughter and giggles alongside her. The first Kasumi was a bit tight-lipped though, blushing and looking down at her feet. Her equal-opposite continued on again without mentioning her discomfort just yet, "She let me have a little space after that, to figure things out. But thankfully it didn't take me long. I guess her confidence must have rubbed off on me. I realized that I had always pined for Summer and other girls in my life, but I had never allowed myself to entertain the notion seriously before. Thankfully I also realized quite quickly that I'd never wanted anything more in my life than to be with Summer. People, men especially, had always compared my beauty to the serenity of the moon, or to the season of my birth, Winter... Since the praise mostly came from unwanted sources, I never thought about it too much before. But suddenly I realized that , if she was Summer, perhaps I was always destined to be her Winter... The more I thought about it, the more I knew for sure. If I was the Moon, then Summer had to be my Sun..."

All the other girls swooned around Kasumi, so her heterosexually-inclined counterpart felt comfortable enough to at least give her a smile too. Wayne again tipped his hat and beamed proudly, while the other men applauded for her. She bowed in thanks before going on, now almost just as proud and confident as her lover. "So, sorry Kasumi-san, your Kenshin sounds like a fine man indeed, but personally I can't fathom being with any man now. As far as I'm concerned it was never a possibility. And well, of course we can't have children together, but we were fortunate enough to have adopted a little girl who was born a couple of Springs ago, and well... Her name is Makoto!"

The first Kasumi now couldn't help but burst into a grin for her double at hearing that. "Oh my! How serendipitous indeed!"

The other Kasumi smiled and nodded, but then she paused, before pleading, "Kasumi-san, if you don't want to answer of course you don't need to, but have you... Never considered you might be with a woman?"

The first girl blushed deeply. "I... Suppose I can't say, BEFORE I met Kenshin, that I never wondered about it once or twice, b-but, he's definitely the one for me, now and forever! I'm very sure of that!"

Her duplicate nodded and bowed, then held up her hands to calm the other girl. "It's okay. I believe you. I was just curious. Thank you for humoring me."

She then looked over to the boy beside her, who was standing there, enraptured with her tale. When he noticed her noticing him, he blinked, and blushed, and squirmed. Unlike his counterpart, he seemed much more shy. He seemed like the kind of kid who might get stage fright, but the boy at least barreled through it, and forced himself to speak up, in a squeaky voice, but one that still managed to carry, "Um... Yanno, I'm sorry guys, I gotta be honest here myself because, well, I'm not sure I should even be here... Because, well... The guy who lives at the crossroads, he's not my lover at all. I mean, I DO got a mad crush on him, b-but, I haven't told him yet, and I'm not sure if he even likes me! I mean, I always hoped, and I was really -thinking- about trying to tell him soon, b-but...!"

He blushed deeply and looked aside. The second Kasumi approached him then, and laid her right hand on his shoulder. He looked up again, and she smiled at him, squeezing gently. "It's okay, Hinata-san. Why don't you just tell us about this person and why you like them. Maybe the word 'lover' here is a broader definition, and in your case being a 'secret admirer' counts too?"

"I'm pretty sure that's the case, paka-pan!" Dessie spoke up in support. "Love is love, paka paaaan~!"

Hinata the Second got a little misty eyed at that. "Um... Okay then! Well, his name is Mason... And well, he's just really cool in all kinds of ways! He's smaller built like me, but he's super strong and really good at working with his hands! He works the mines every morning, and he only grows enough food crops for himself, because he focuses his extra farmland on trees for lumber. He's a builder like Ludus, and obviously because of it they hit it off right off the bat. He met me a little later but him and Ludus were best friends first..."

He couldn't help but seem a little sad and envious at that, but he quickly pushed it aside. "Anyways though, yeah, Mason's a cool guy. He's good friends with everyone, and all the guys are kinda jealous of him for one reason or another. Me and Yuzuki are jealous of his good looks - He's got this beautiful brown skin and brown hair with the most GORGEOUS golden-colored eyes. Ah man, those eyes make my heart rush every time...!" The others smiled at him as he suddenly blushed, bright as a tomato. "...But, uh, hehe, y-yeah! Wayne and Ludus were jealous that Lisette wanted to date Mason first, although when Mason turned her down she ended up dating Ludus in my world..." He mentioned, to take the heat off his embarrassing display earlier about those glorious golden eyes.

And well, it worked. Briefly glancing at each other, Ludus and Lisette blushed quite red before glancing away. Wayne couldn't help but tease and let out a whistle for them. Ludus glared and quickly told him, "Oh shut it..."

Hinata grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "But yeah, he wasn't really focused on romance with any of the girls, at least, it wasn't his first concern. That was his building goals. Mason wanted to build a big neat house for himself in the future so he was saving up materials for it. In the meantime he practiced working on all other kinds of projects. Soon all the trees all over his farm and the stones from his mining became works of art. In one section of his farm, he built all kinds of sets and props, each inspired from all the three towns. It's so cool! You can go from one to the next and play a scene in each one! He lets me recite lines there all the time. He's a little shy but he'll practice lines with me too, as long as it's just me to see him. Then another section is devoted to his sculpting hobby, he's really big on that. I mean, he's so good he almost seems like a wizard, taking these raw materials and making them all into such cool and useful stuff, making a big ol' piece of ROCK look just like a real person or animal!"

He was getting a little carried away, so he took a second to calm himself. "Of course when he finally got to make his dream-house, it was well worth the wait. He's always liked music as well as art, and he was inspired by all the music lovers across the three towns, so he made his own house into a glorious music lounge, practically a shrine to music, where everybody gets together to practice every other weekend for a bi-yearly music festival that has become tradition since Mason came to our towns. The decor is this really tasteful black and white theme, everything is so sharp and crisp. But the best part is the living space, which displays one of almost every kind of instrument there is, and Mason hand-made every single one of them. He can play most of them pretty good too, especially the violin, the piano, and the guitar - But he's surprisingly the best at and most passionate about trumpets and saxophones. After the day is almost over he likes to practice with them, and his music always sounds so peaceful and easy-going... I guess, maybe even romantic? I dunno, it just always kinda sounds like that to me whenever I listen to him play... And, I dunno, I guess I just kinda got the crazy idea in my head that I'd really like to be able to listen to him play every night, and play with him every day... ER, I mean, play plays! That is, recite lines! From stage plays! That's what I meant!"

Yuzuki whistled playfully, "The gentleman doth protest too much~"

The others smiled knowingly, and Summer's Kasumi patted him on the back to comfort him. "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with desiring the person you love. And to be quite frank with you, Hinata - I think you should confess to Mason. From what you've told us, well... I can't help but think you may not have seen the signs yourself, but it seems pretty obvious to me that this Mason surely must like you too..."

"Oh yeah, definitely." Wayne nodded. "The signs are all there."

"W-What?" Hinata blinked in confusion, "What do you mean? What signs?"

Kenshin's Kasumi spoke up then, "You did say that he turned down Lisette... And well... Just, look at her!"

"Exactly," Her counterpart continued. "Lisette is an absolute beauty. She's the pinnacle of femininity, and she always smells like flowers. Any man that would turn her down is surely not especially interested in females..."

"Not to mention..." Ludus, well, mentioned. "If he's shy about reciting lines and only does it in front of you... Well, why'd he make a bunch of sets and props for plays? I mean, just asking, is that something he was doing alongside his sculpting hobby since before he met you, or is that something he started doing after he met you and heard about your passion for acting in plays?"

Hinata paused an extra few seconds then. "Um... After..."

Komari and Yuzuki both instinctively went, "Aww~!"

Iluka announced the obvious out loud, "So it's something he started doing just for you~"

The newer Hinata blushed and looked down, "You really think so...?"

Witchie couldn't help but call out sarcastically to the poor dense boy at that, "Hey, genius! Pretty sure you being in this circle of destined lovers means something! So go confess to that hottie already or I might just pop into your dimension and spirit him away for myself!"

That certainly lit a fire under him. "H-Hey! No you won't! Because I'm gonna confess to him as soon as I get home! Alright? I've decided!" He grinned suddenly, now all of that classic Hinata-style charm and confidence finally returning to him. "I'm gonna tell him my true feelings when I get back! I'm definitely gonna finally do it!" He looked up at all of them then, and smiled shyly, "Hey... Th-Thanks, you guys... I'm so glad I had this pep talk and met all of you and heard your stories. I finally feel confident enough to tell the person I love that I want to be their lover!"

Everyone applauded for the boy earnestly, and he took a bow for them before straightening back up. "Alright, so, since I'm last, does that mean we can all go home now...?"

As soon as he wondered this out loud, the wind rustled past them, whispering the answer to the minor goddesses. Dessie spoke for them all once she heard it, "Oh, wait... We're sorry, but it seems there's actually one more person to go. Just one more though, we promise! They have heard everything as well, but they've been standing just on the outside of this reality. Them crossing over will be what opens the portal that allows us the put the bridge we've made into the proper place, and then hopefully we can all go home!"

Iluka sighed, "Alright, alright! But can we please hurry it along now? My husband has a cellar to start searching!"

Ludus groaned for her spouse and the work in store for him. "Hopefully the last newcomer isn't another Iluka...?"

Inari snorted, "No, it's not... Come on over and introduce yourself now, Last and Thirteenth Lover..."

Until now, the arch that led to the stairs that one climbed from the village to get to the alter, seemed to be covered in a mirror-like veil. But when Inari called, it showed the stairs briefly, and walking up them was an almost-identical copy of Wayne.

Once this Wayne crossed the arch-way, the mirror-like veil returned over it. With all eyes focused on him, the newcomer squirmed a bit, but then he reached up and tipped his hat the group, and hesitantly began, "Er... Howdy!"

His voice was just a slightly higher pitch than the other Wayne, than all the other Wayne's those in this group had known. His body was just the slightest bit thinner. His face was completely smooth, whilst the first Wayne had just the slightest touch of stubble on his chin...

He smiled, knowing that most of them probably already knew. People could usually tell once they really got a good look at him. Thankfully most people around his parts were polite about it, and so was everyone in this group, although the Wayne the First was definitely staring pretty hard at him, taking a few extra minutes to let it sink in. So Wayne the Second went ahead and just 'ripped the band-aid off' for him. "Alright, well, since the last two have been so brave about telling their stories, I reckon I should be just as honest as they've been... So, as you all know, the name's Wayne. That is to say, that's the name I've been going by since I was kid, but technically... Well, technically speaking, let's just say... When I was born, my mother looked at me and saw fit to name me... Wanda."

"Oh, man..." Sandy's Wayne groaned in mortification. "I'm so sorry. Even if I was born a girl I would have hated being saddled with a name like that..."

His counterpart nodded solemnly. "Right. And since I always felt like I never should have been born a girl, I hated that name even more. I got into scraps with boys when I was a kid who made fun of me because of it. But thankfully when I got older and people realized I wasn't changing, they started questioning it less and accepting it more. Nowadays everyone in my circle knows me well enough that it doesn't seem odd to them, to them I'm Wayne and always have been. I'm just me, I am who I am and I am what I am, and it's not really a big deal. Especially since y'all already know we ain't here to talk about me anyways - I'm here to tell you about my girl, my amazing, wonderful, beautiful angel - My Shannon!"

"Shannon, hmm? She already sounds like a sweetheart." Summer's Kasumi smiled encouragingly to him. "We can't wait to hear more~"

He grinned and took his hat off as he spoke of his beloved, almost out of reverence. "She's got a sweet heart, alright. The sweetest. To be honest, she's not really got much of a green thumb. So she too only grows what she needs to eat at home. And though she loves animals, she's not inclined to keep enough to make animal byproducts her main source of income, either. She's only got one chicken, one cow, one sheep and one rabbit. Just enough to keep her fed and clothed. Her father was constantly sending her letters, trying to get on her case to buy more animals and make the farm more profitable. But it just wasn't her goal. She was happy living on the farm and with nature but she didn't want to stress herself out trying to turn her farm into a money-making machine. She was fine making just enough to get by, and living a simple life. I always admired that about her, right off the bat."

He shifted, inserting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Plus, the gal's too much of a social butterfly to keep herself busy and cooped up on the farm all day! She heads down to Brad's everyday to hang out with me and Ford and everybody. It used to be just me and Ford but soon Shan was a part of the regular lunch group too. And sorry Ford, but Shannon also thinks you're too much of a stick in the mud sometimes!"

Ford 'hmph'ed and pushed up his glasses. "At least my dear Kym recognizes my genius..."

But the other Wayne just winked at him, and continued to tease, "Oh, Shan knows yer a genius too! But yer definitely still a stick in the mud! But not my Shan, she's the life of every party. She's never missed a festival unless she couldn't go to two at once, and even then she tries to! But she especially likes singing at Brad's with Miranda. She's like your Mason, Hinata - Musically inclined! She doesn't play much, but she's got the voice of an angel. Get a few people to strum a beat behind her and she can carry a tune that would make a muse sigh! And well, haha, I guess she started noticing after a while how I'd sit and stare while she sang, sometimes even getting a lil late getting back to work because I couldn't stop listening to her beautiful, angelic voice... When she realized I might get in trouble after a while from doing it so much, she suggested to me that we maybe ought to get hitched. Then I could listen to her at home and not be late getting back to work!"

He laughed, then pulled out a photo from his pocket, handing it around. It was of their wedding day, of the happy couple holding hands at the alter. The girl beside him had brown hair curled and styled, and her brown eyes were shining with happy tears. Peach skin settled into the white dress and she held a bouquet of white roses in white gloved hands.

"We were blessed with a boy not long after our union. His name is Austin. We love our simple life together. We don't got gold, we don't got a ton of fancy clothes or things. We got each other, and a pretty little Western-style ranch house over our heads. We're happy. Her Pa's not real supportive but she doesn't care because he never has been, and she knows he never will be. Of anything. How much money she makes, how she runs her farm, how she lives her life, or who she chooses to love. But I think it's real brave of her to do what she wants anyways, and never apologize for her choices. I remember one time her folks came to visit, and her dad told her, 'I just wish you had at least married a real man.' And she told him, plain as day, 'I did.' Hah!"

"Oh yeah. Now that's a class act right there." Sandy's Wayne told him, eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Choice ohana, yo." Ludus agreed, giving him two thumbs up.

The others agreed, and applauded for him too, and with that they believed it to be over. But the wind started to rustle once more, and the three little goddesses eyes suddenly glazed over, all white and glowing. The elder gods were speaking directly through them now. "You're all doing fine, you're all doing great. Now it's time to reflect and relate. Compare what your lovers have in common, and where they diverge. Reveal the secrets you still hide in your hearts, and your realities will merge..."

"Still not done, huh..." Iluka sighed. "Great, celestial homework..."

"Let's just get it over with." Wayne added with a shrug. "So, hmm... Sali, Sandy... Summer, Shannon... Jude, Joe... Momo, Michio, Mason, Kym, Kimi, Kenshin... And Cyril. Hey, most of our lovers have a name that starts with the same letter as another? I mean, one doesn't, but maybe it's something...?"

"Hmm..." Ludus hummed back. "What about their ohana? My Sali was adopted. What about your lovers?"

Wayne the First blinked in surprise, "Oh, hey, yeah! My Sandy was adopted too, actually."

"Jude was adopted as well." Iluka added, then looked to her sister.

But Siluka shook her head. "Not Joe. His father was his mother's first husband. She remarried later, and her second husband is the one Joe got the farm from."

"Hey, that's the case with Momo too!" Hinata piped up. "She told me once her real dad died when she was still just a baby, and that her stepfather raised her since she was a toddler!"

"That's the case with Michio too." Komari nodded beside him.

Lisette blinked openly, "How strange! Am I the only one whose lover was raised by both his parents? I mean they are the king and queen so obviously it would be a scandal if he wasn't, but..."

"No." Ford informed her quickly. "Kym was also raised by both of her biological parents. Though she's also a bit estranged from them because of a lack of emotional support in childhood..."

Yuzuki nodded, "Same with Kimi. She was raised by both of her biological parents, but she doesn't really care to see them unless they make an effort to see her..."

"Oh dear..." Lisette fretted for them. "I'm sorry that's the case. Thankfully Cyril is still on good terms with his parents..."

Kenshin's Kasumi raised her hand. "My husband was also fathered from a first marriage..."

"Really?" Summer's Wife returned, "Because Summer was born to her father's first wife, not her mother's first husband..."

"Mason too! He told me once that his mom died giving birth to him and then his dad married another lady later!" Hinata added.

"Shannon's ma and pa are just fine, apart from her pa being a total blowhard." Wayne added his 2 cents next. "And they're both hers, unless somebody's got a skeleton in some closet I don't know about."

Ford hummed in thought, stroking his chin. "Hmm... It is interesting how there seems to be a vague pattern going on... It's almost as if every person either has a trait in common with another, that, or they're complete opposites..."

Yuzuki nodded in agreement. "It also seems like all our lovers all have something in common with us..."

Lisette shrugged at that, and clasped her hands in front of her lap, unsure. "Well, except me. I seem to be the odd one out, being married to a prince..."

Komari gave her a strange look for that, crossing her arms and then smirking. "Nope. Everyone here definitely already considered you a princess, Lisette - Besides, doesn't marrying a prince technically make you a princess anyways?"

"Oh!" Lisette blushed, too humble to admit to that readily. "Well, I suppose you're right..."

There was a short silence after that. Momo's Hinata was the next to break it, "Well, if that's all we can think of for now, I guess that means we can move on to the 'secrets we hold in our hearts'? Oh boy. That doesn't sound like it will be awkward at all..."

Iluka rolled her eyes. "How do we even know which secrets we're supposed to share? Everyone has secrets, most people have a ton!"

Ludus glanced over at her. "...Speak for yourself, Iluka."

She glared back at him. "...Fine! I will!" Crossing her arms, she huffed, guilt etched across her features. "It's not like a perfect being like me could anything TOO horrible, of course! But... Well, in all honesty..."

Bringing her ring finger up towards her face, she glanced down at the ring. "This is actually... The SECOND engagement ring I've ever had, because... I lost the first one."

Her foster brother went wide-eyed at that, almost choking on nothing. "You LOST your own engagement ring?"

Iluka's cheeks went bright pink. "H-Hey! At least we still have the Blue Feather! We preserved that and have it on display in our home... But, yes, I did... And I felt really bad for it too, so don't give me any extra grief! Besides, it was an accident! I was swimming and a fish came along and snatched it right off my finger! It swallowed it and swam off before I could do anything! And even though it was an accident, I still felt so bad that I spent my own money to get a replacement ring so Jude wouldn't know! I suppose I should have told him though..."

Siluka patted her back, comforting and consoling her. "It was an honest mistake. But it's still not good to keep secrets from your loved ones, even though you don't think any harm will come of it. You never know - What if Jude catches a fish someday and it's got a pink diamond ring in it's belly? I can only imagine how uncomfortable a supper that would be to sit through..."

Iluka grew very paranoid at that. "Oh... I hadn't thought of that..." She sighed then, defeated. "Okay... I'll tell Jude when I get home..."

Ludus gave her a partly proud, partly relieved smile. "I think that's the right thing to do. I'm sure your husband won't blame you. After all, the man had to have the patience of a saint to marry you in the first place..."

Iluka wouldn't refrain from smacking his shoulder for that, though the half-hearted action only made Ludus start to laugh. "Now that's enough from you!"

The goddesses smiled, and Inari chimed in, "Honesty is always the best policy."

Witchie shrugged. "Eh. I say if you can get away with it just keep it to yourself! But," She added when the other two divinities gave her a suffering look. "I guess you might as well just get it out in the open..."

Dessie nodded at that, "It shows maturity to confess to wrongdoing even when you don't have to. Now, is anyone else ready...?"

Much more hesitantly, Komari was the next to volunteer, slowly raising her hand. "I guess I'll go... Because, truth is, I kinda fibbed about something earlier when I was telling you guys my story..."

Lowering her hand, she clasped her palms together in front of her lap and stared down at the ground. "I'm not really sure how to say it. I still feel like I shouldn't. I feel so guilty about it..."

Clearly she really did. Her voice was starting to crack and her eyes were watering up. Seeing this, both Kasumi put a hand on each of her shoulders in support.

Her heart was still heavy, but it lightened the load enough that she could bear to face it. "I... I told you guys earlier that me and Michio will probably have a kid sooner than later, but... I... I...!"

She couldn't hold the tears back any longer. "I don't really want to have a child! I'm so scared of the thought of being pregnant! I don't know if I'd be a good mother! Things are always so busy at the restaurant, when would I ever even have time to take care of them? I know Michio deserves it, that I should be like Kasumi and be a good and devoted wife, but-!"

"Komari." Kenshin's Kasumi interrupted her firmly there. "Calm down..."

The other Kasumi nodded, and rubbed her back. "You don't have to give birth to a child if you don't want to, Komari. We know you love your husband, but you don't need to feel obligated to prove your love this way..."

Her counterpart nodded as well, smoothing the tea-girl's hair away from her face. "It's completely understandable that you would fear pregnancy. I can tell you first-hand that it's absolutely one of the most horrid experiences of my life. No one should commit to that unless they're sure it's what they want. Although I have no doubt that you would be an excellent mother if you chose to be, if you don't feel enthusiastic about it, don't go through with it. Your husband will surely understand if he loves you. Besides, you're still so young! You have plenty of years ahead of you to have a child if you decide you want that later."

"Not to mention, adoption is always the caring option!" Shan's Wayne spoke up briefly.

"But," Kenshin's Kasumi completed for them, "If you never want a child at all, that's completely okay too. It's 100% your choice."

Komari's sniffles soon faded away. After a hiccup or two, she wiped the water off her cheeks and smiled up at her friends again. "Thank you guys so much... That's been weighing on my mind for a really long time..."

There was a lengthy silence after that, a slightly uncomfortable silence. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone to speak up, but that person never did. Finally the elder goddesses whispered to Inari, who spoke up for them again, "Yuzuki? Why are you making everyone wait?"

Blushing at being called out, Yuzuki rubbed the back of his head, and looked away to the side of him. "Um... I'm sorry. I just feel rather ridiculous bringing up something so silly after Komari shared something so deeply personal..."

Inari shook her head. "I don't know your secret yet, Yuzuki, but my master tells me it's not silly at all. You'll probably benefit as well from sharing..." She mentioned.

Yuzuki sighed quietly. "Well, I'm not sure about that, but I suppose I have no choice... Remember how I said that my wife Kimi is good friends with Kasumi in our world?"

Several nods from around the crowd urged him on. He sighed again, a little more raggedly this time. "The truth is... They're not just "good friends"... I found Kimi kissing Kasumi on the lips a couple of months ago..."

Nearly everyone there gasped for him. Ludus even seemed to be getting steamed up for him, exclaiming, "Wh-What?! Wait, seriously? She's cheating on you?!"

Yuzuki immediately shook his head at that, and rushed to defend the woman he still loved. "No, no! It's not... Quite -exactly- like that..."

The first Wayne blinked. "Well, what do you mean then...?"

Hugging his own frame for a moment, Yuzuki gripped the fabric of his clothing in his fingers. "It's just... I know a lot of people in my position would be a lot madder, that you all probably think I shouldn't forgive her, but... In my heart, I already did. She's still a good wife to me. She takes care of me and the children and the farm, devotedly. She never strays from my side when I come down ill, she's always by my side when I need her, and most of the time besides that. She's never missed a school play or a parent-teacher day, our children are happy and healthy and doing well in school - In other words, she's never off with Kasumi when her family needs her. Now, I know that even all that doesn't necessarily justify her keeping it a secret from me, and rest assured, that IS the part I'm mad about, but..."

His grip on the cloth lessened, and his head tipped back, looking at the sky. It was a beautiful twilight sky. Twilight had always been Kimi's favorite... "I... I just can't bring myself to be mad at her for wanting to be with Kasumi once in a while. They've been the best of friends since they met, and Kimi told me a long time ago about her being bisexual... They say if you truly love someone, you have to love them for who and WHAT they really are. I believe that's the case, and if that's so, then I want to support Kimi just as much as she's supported me. I want my wife to be as happy as she possibly can be in this life, because she deserves to be! So if there's something she desires, that only Kasumi can fulfill, then... I'm okay with that. I swear I really am..."

He was smiling as reassuringly as he could. But it was a sad smile, he couldn't hide that...

Inari's ears twitched as the goddesses whispered into them. "...Hmm. Maybe you are, Yuzuki... But all the same, if you don't mind me saying, I really think you should tell your wife you know about this, and how you feel about it. I think she should know..."

Momo's Hinata nodded along with her, "I mean, if you're really, totally okay with it, then it shouldn't be a big deal, right? Obviously your Kasumi is okay with her wanting to be with you most of the time, so...?"

Yuzuki nodded in acknowledgment of the veiled question. "So why make them hide, right? I've... Actually thought that way about it for a while. I just wasn't sure if I should go ahead and tell her I knew, because I didn't want to chance that I might sadden or embarrass her, and make things awkward for everyone..."

Witchie shrugged, continuing for him, "But then again, by allowing her to go on thinking she has to keep her other lover secret, it's probably making her feel guilty. It sounds like she's more devoted to you, so she'll probably eventually become so guilty that she'll break up with Kasumi because of that overwhelming guilt..."

Yuzuki looked up in alarm at that. For a while now he'd been wondering if Kimi might do that. He knew he wouldn't feel right demanding that she cut off ties with Kasumi, so he wondered if he perhaps just left things be, if she might simply make up her mind one way or the other, with due time. But now that the most likely possibility had been laid out for him, he decided rather suddenly, right on the spot... That outcome wasn't what he wanted at all, even if it turned out to be in his favor.

Finally, after a long pause, he slowly nodded. "I... I'll take her out for the day, just the two of us, and tell her I know... I'll tell her that I don't mind it. And I don't! As long as she still sees fit to bless me and our family with her love and attentions, why should I care if she and another good old friend occasionally share a date? Like I said, if there's something she wants that only Kasumi can give her - Well, I want her to have it! I want Kimi to have all the love and good things she desires in the world!"

Inari gave a small, sudden cough into her fist, her furry ears twitching as the divine winds spoke to her once more. "Actually Yuzuki, the elder gods inform me..." Her cheeks went pink and she coughed again. "There may be something Kimi and Kasumi BOTH want from you, that only you can give them... That is to say, you need not feel like a 'third wheel', so to speak, but if you do, just think of the relationship as something of a tricycle! It may have three wheels, but, maybe it's supposed to be like that?"

Yuzuki's cheeks began to burn at that. "...Oh!" He finally replied dumbly, not sure what else to think or say at the moment.

But Witchie knew -just- what to say. "Looks like we've got YOU blushing this time, pretty mortal boy!"

The green-haired male bowed deeply at that, to hide his reddened cheeks. "I-Indeed!"

Daintily, Summer's Kasumi hid a smile behind her palm. "My, my... Our souls certainly seem to be mercurial, don't they, Kasumi-sama?"

Her twin from another reality blinked in confusion at her statement. "Mercurial...?"

"Well," The other girl explained, "From how it sounds, it seems you're heterosexual, Yuzuki's Kasumi is bisexual, and I'm a lesbian. Despite being almost near copies of each other, it seems we're quite different from each other, as well!"

Inari gave them all a sudden grin, hopping over to them on the tips of her toes. "Aha! Congratulations, mortals! It seems you have finally found the Key!"

All eyes were on her within a second. Motioning towards the archway, several gasps were sounded off at the realization that a third, as well as a fourth and final Kasumi stood on the other side of the veil. After the shimmering, invisible mirror was lifted, the two extra twin-like girls bowed to the crowd before them. The one on the right spoke up first, glancing in Yuzuki's direction, but unable to meet his eyes. "Yuzuki... It's me. Your old friend, Kasumi... I heard everything. I'm so sorry if this secret I so selfishly kept caused you pain. I tried to keep my feelings to myself for so long, but..."

Yuzuki straightened up, and slowly began to shake his head. "I'm actually... Glad you didn't. Perhaps there's another version of me out there somewhere that would have been unable to forgive you both for this, one that would have forgotten what good friends we've always been... But I'm not that one. I forgive you, and I'd be happy to share Kimi with you. Now, shall we go home... Together?"

She nodded, but then glanced over at the extra version of herself that had appeared alongside her. "Er, although... Does she also have a statement to make...?"

The fourth and final Kasumi, who seemed to be the most cold and distant of all of them, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Only this - That I am a version of you all that has never cared for sex or romance of any kind, from either sex or gender... And my life seems to be exceedingly more simple and stress-free because of it!"

No one cared to debate her on that.

Leading them back to the veil, the three little goddesses waved their hands in front of the shimmering mirror-like barrier, which then suddenly splintered, and cracked. But just when they were sure the fragments were going to break apart and shatter, they instead suddenly bunched up, and turned into glimmering rainbow-colored bubbles, which floated away into the twilight sky. Once gone, the archway that was left behind was no longer like a mirror, but instead was pitch black, like pure ink.

Motioning for them to step into the blackness, the goddesses explained in unison, their eyes all white and glowing, "The Key has unlocked the path ahead of you, the bridge that will lead you to the Doorways to your world... Go into the void. Reaffirm your trust in our power, and we swear we will not fail you. Your faith will lead you to a door, and that door will lead you home. You will know what door is yours when you see it, without a doubt.."

Despite those words, they all still hesitated before going into the darkness. "Well..." Wayne mentioned, gulping down the knot in his throat. "Guess this is sayonara for all of us. We'll never see each other again..."

There were some nods, and some hung heads. After a moment or two, Siluka looked up, "...I'll miss you guys. I think, even if we forgot this meeting, I'll still miss you. I'll still remember the things you all told me. Don't you all feel so too...?"

Ford crossed his arms, a typically doubtful expression on his face. "Well, of course that's completely unscientific... But," He added, forcing a reluctant smile to his face. "I think it's a nice thought, and I hope it's true."

"Well I sure hope it's true!" The second Hinata added, "I don't wanna lose this confidence you all gave me and chicken out of confessing to Mason!"

"You won't." The latter of the Waynes assured him, patting him on the back. "You'll do fine! Trust me, you'll be honeymooning before you know it!"

"A honeymoon... Oh gosh, that's so romantic!" The smaller boy squealed. "Okay, I definitely gotta confess, ASAP!"

The others laughed with him, and gave their blessings to him. Then they each said goodbye to each other, trying not to become too misty eyed while doing so. Finally, one by one, they began stepping into the darkness, where they suddenly found themselves there alone.

Alone, but for a door. A door floating all by itself within the endless sea of black.

Each door was different for each person approaching it. Ludus' door was lavender, with a conch shell. Wayne's door was baby blue, with a string of powder-white pearls in the shape of a heart. Iluka's door was black, with a large pink diamond. Siluka's was onion brown, with a fish-hook made out of pink coral. Hinata's door was pink, with a sunny yellow peach. Komari's door was royal red, with a pair of black chopsticks criss-crossed over one another. Lisette had a white door, with a bouquet of multi-colored flowers. Ford's door was white also, with a simple picture posted on the front - A picture of a pregnant woman's ultrasound, with a female child in the womb. The door that Yuzuki and his world's Kasumi entered was green, with a heart made of solid gold. Kenshin's Kasumi had a green door as well, but with a red cardinal bird on the front. Summer's Kasumi had a purple door, with an orange jack-o-lantern. Mason's Hinata came to a door of silver, with a sheet of music notes drawn in black. Last of them, the Wayne-who-was-once-a-Wanda came to a blue door, with a pair of white angel wings on the front.

All at the same 'time', each one opened their door, and went through. Instantly, their vision and consciousness faded into the blackness, and before they knew it, they found themselves waking up in their beds at home, with the remnants of the strangest dreams still clinging to their memories, and a new resolution in each of their hearts...

The goddesses sighed a breath of relief. Inari clapped her hands and bowed to the invisible elder goddesses for their help. Dessie gave them a curtsy. Witchie didn't do anything, because she was too busy inspecting a very large and expensive-looking pink diamond ring on her finger...

"...H-Hey, is that...?" Dessie mumbled weakly, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "Witchie! How could you-?!"

"Easy!" Witchie replied, without shame. "I magicked it out of that fish! I didn't steal it off the bride's finger, if that's what you're worried about! If anything I helped her out - Now she doesn't have to worry about sitting through that super-awkward dinner!"

Inari sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Nevermind it, Dessie - Just let her have it. After all..." The foxy goddess suddenly smirked. "If she tries to send it back, she might end up almost breaking the universe again!"

Witchie's cheeks grew bright red at that. "W-W-WHAT! Oh come on, n-no way! You're not gonna hold that against me forever, are you...?!"

Dessie's tears dried up quickly, and a grin made it's way to her lips. "Hey, that's right... I guess now you're the biggest klutz in the group!"

Aghast, Witchie gave chase after them as they walked away. "HEY! I am NOT a klutz! I'm great at magic, I just-Hey, are you guys listening? Not faaaaaaaair~~~!"

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The End!

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(( A.N. Hahaha, wasn't sure how to end this, hope this is satisfactory. ^^ And I hope you all liked it! I'm sure there's probably at least one or two parts a few of you might think was odd, but if so it's probably because I tried to use this story to describe different and unconventional kinds of lovers, including homosexual lovers, transgender lovers, and even child-free, polyamory and asexuality. If any of these isn't your cup of tea, I understand, but please don't bother mentioning any of these as a negative. Otherwise if you liked the story, I sure would be happy to hear so! Please review if you feel like it, and I hope you enjoyed the story. :D ))


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